Charles Perkins going home from University

Robert McFarlane
Australia
7 September 1942 – 19 July 2023

Charles Perkins going home from University
c 1963; printed 2009
pigment print on paper
Place made
Sydney
Medium
pigment print on paper
Dimensions
23.0 x 15.0 cm (image)
29.7 x 20.8 cm (sheet)
Credit line
South Australian Government Grant 2009
Accession number
20093Ph4
Signature and date
Signed and dated verso bot.c., pencil "... 1963 ... Robert McFarlane".
Media category
Photograph
Collection area
Australian photographs
Copyright
Courtesy Robert McFarlane and Josef Lebovic Gallery, Sydney

  • WALL LABEL: Robert McFarlane: In Memory [display], 2023


    In 1963 Robert McFarlane moved to Sydney to pursue a career as a photojournalist, freelancing for magazines such as Walkabout, The Bulletin and VOGUE Australia.

     

    One of McFarlane’s first assignments in Sydney was a photo-essay on Charles Perkins, the Aboriginal activist. At that time Perkins was the first Aboriginal person studying at Sydney University. McFarlane photographed Perkins during a bus trip home from university, asking Perkins to ignore his presence. The resulting portrait, as with many others by McFarlane, possesses a quiet integrity, as the sitter is captured at an introspective moment.

     

     Portraiture is central to McFarlane’s oeuvre and to this he brings a  

     photojournalistic approach – recording people as they go about their daily

     activities, seemingly unaware of the photographer.

     

    Julie Robinson, Senior Curator, Prints, Drawings & Photographs

  • Robert McFarlane: In Memory [display]

    Art Gallery of South Australia, 28 July 2023 – 17 April 2024